Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,605: Porgs (Batuu, The Black Series 6-Inch)

PORGS (Batuu, Smuggler's Run)
Galaxy's Edge The Black Series 6-Inch Figure Disney Park Exclusive
Item No.: No. E5159
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #n/a
Includes: Chewbacca with Bowcaster, Rey with Blaster and Staff and Lightsaber, Hondo Ohnaka with Blaster
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $69.99
Availability: June 2019
Appearances: Galaxy's Edge

Bio: Small, flat-muzzled avians that flock about the rocks and roost in the cliffs of Ahch-To island, porgs are inquisitive creatures. (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability:  Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary:  Porgs are popular, and also hated.  It's a rare combo platter, making them somewhat like the Ewoks in that you have fans that can't understand why anybody loves them as well as fans that think they're just great.  At 1-inch tall, each tiny Porg is almost more of an accessory than a figure in its own right - but Hasbro sold a 2-pack in 2018 for about $6, so we're going to treat them like a unique product for the purposes of this review.

They're new! I was surprised.  At first glance I assumed they just were the standing Porg from earlier, but each body is a new casting.   There's a Screaming Porg and a Sad Porg, leaving the door open for other variants like Geordi LaPorg and BBQ Porgs in the future.  Each figure is built around the existing template - ball-jointed wings and swivel legs on a round, rotund feathered body. They're small, they're cute, and they're painted very differently than the 2018 versions.  The brown/orange feathers are much paler this time, but the brown is a pretty close match as are the other colors.

Deco is impressive - the eyes can be a little off, so examine them before you buy them if you're worried.  It's not obvious, but the closed-mouth Porg is the "Sad Porg" that gives Chewbacca a guilt trip at dinner time.  You can see the exaggerated, pouty lower lip and the sad drop-shaped eyes. A little outline around the eyes may make it more obvious, as I completely missed it when I first got the set.

Screaming Porg is pretty much perfect - the mouth is open, painted, and yelling.    The eyes are wide and the tongue protrudes a tiny bit, giving you a very cute, very personable bird-like entity.  They all have pink feet with painted webbed claws, and are probably - probably - worth the overall asking price if you want the other figures in the set. 

You get 3 $20 figures and 1 $6 2-pack in a box.  $26 of the product is inarguably good enough and new enough to be worth it, with the other $40 being just different enough to make you mad (or very exciting if you missed it the first time.)   I begrudgingly recommend the set just because Hasbro did actually go through the trouble to change stuff up enough so that you can tell them apart from previous runs, which is admittedly not a high bar but it's nice for us collector people.   If the package inspired you, get it.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from my pal Shannon who went to Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge last month.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,605: July 23, 2019

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,476: Porgs (The Black Series 6-Inch)

PORGS Debut
The Force Awakens The Black Series 6-Inch Scale Figures
Item No.: No. E4254
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: #n/a
Includes: 2 Porgs
Action Feature: n/a
Retail: $7.99
Availability: March 2018
Appearances: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Bio: Small.  Mimicking.  Mischievous.  (Taken from the figure's packaging.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary: When a new Star Wars movie comes out, it seems more and more the film comes and goes with a lot of "what about that guy?" characters.   We got one lone 3 3/4-inch bird, and the 6-inch scale Porgs - which would have been a great accessory for Luke, Chewbacca, or Rey (or heck, R2-D2) - were announced as a late-addition one-off in a tiny box.  Tiny.  These little guys are about the size of a Minecraft or Bit Figs figure, and are priced similarly to Mattel's kid-driven mini-figures.    Typically random blind-boxed or capsule toy minis were anywhere from 25 cents to a dollar, while Hasbro and Mattel's would range from $1-$3.50.  Since these have paint and articulation, they cost a bit more - they're not bad.  They're just kind of ridiculous products that are hard to merchandise given there's no hang tag and the only place they'd really fit are in Target's seasonal Spring toy section.

Each figure is painted well, one has four points of articulation and is a total gem. The other is a slug figure and a bit of a bore.  I kind of wish Hasbro just put two of the  jointed one in the box - he has swivel legs and teeny-tiny ball joints for his wings.  These allow the wings to be out flapping or tucked in to the body.  Hasbro deserves massive credit for whoever cut the joints in this figure, it's not easy to do and it works nearly perfectly.  It stands, it flaps, it's adorable plus sports big black eyes and painted nostrils.  You'll even see painted claws on the tips of the webbed toes.   It's a tiny figure, and it's expensive for the size, but it's good.   It seems unlikely a better figure could be made at this size with current manufacturing techniques, and while a neck joint would be cool I assume you'd lose some of the pudgy look and stability.

Meanwhile, the "sitting" Porg looks great and has a cute pose.  It does nothing but sit - there are no joints, no feet.  It's a bowling pin.  Hasbro clearly put all the money in paint, ensuring the feathers look good even though they have a little less yellow. You can see specks and flecks in the fluff, and the expression is cute.  The painted mouth and nostrils look great, with rings of color subtly framing the eyes.

The tiny box is only barely larger than a box of raisins, making it the smallest packaging for The Black Series and one of the smallest Star Wars non-micro toy boxes of all time.  As of my writing this I don't know which stores will actually stock this tiny, oddly-shaped item but if you come across it?  Go ahead and get it. It's cute, it's neat.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.  

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,476: April 25, 2018

Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2,400: Chewbacca with Porg (The Last Jedi Line Look)

CHEWBACCA with Porg
The Last Jedi Basic Figure Teal Assortment
Item No.: Asst. C1531  No. C1536
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Number: n/a
Includes: Bowcaster, Porg figure
Action Feature: Force Link sounds
Retail: $8.99
Availability: September 2017
Appearances: The Last Jedi

Bio: Chewbacca, known affectionately to his friends as Chewie, was a male Wookiee warrior, smuggler, and resistance fighter who fought in the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War, and the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance.  Porgs were an avian species native to the planet Ahch-To, where Jedi Master Luke Skywalker made his exile in the years following the Battle of Endor.   (Stolen from Wookieepedia.  Packaging has no bio.)

Image: Adam's photo lab.

Availability: Click here to buy it at Entertainment Earth now!

Click here to buy it at Amazon now!

Commentary:  Another movie, another Chewbacca.  We don't get one for every launch day, but we have had quite a few over the last decades.   This one is really tall and better articulated than most, being able to stand and sit with good hip joints complete with a good clearance  His mouth is open and roaring, his hair painted well with a decent fade.   I love that his skin shows and is painted, and that his eyes seem to be blue.  Chewie's bandolier is a separate piece, and it looks great.  

I ran back to my The Force Awakens Millennium Falcon to see if he can sit in it, in particular since no The Last Jedi version seems planned.  Chewie is a tight, awkward fit in the cockpit but fits fine in the med bed, the put around the Dejarik table, and in the gunner station.   This may well be one of my favorite modern Hasbro Chewies because he can sit flat on the floor, which figure figures save for the 1978 original do well.  The fur sculpting is good, and it's consistent with some of the finer efforts out of the company as of late.

Chewbacca's Bowcaster may be the worst ever, unless it breaks in the movie, in which case it's the best ever.  The front part and the scope are separate pieces, not glued on and barely held in with friction.  If it drops, the weapon flies out of his hand and the pieces scatter on your desk.  It's also smaller than other bowcasters.   Long-time readers know I hate customizing or altering a figure in any way, but I'm actually going to advise you to glue this one.  If you knock him over, you may never see the complete bowcaster again.  It comes unpainted and is otherwise interesting.

His Force Link sounds include what sounds like 4 distinctive roars.  When you shove him forward, you get blaster bolts and, eventually, an explosion sound.

He's joined by a Porg, which is probably why you'll buy the figure.  At not even an inch tall, the figure has no Force Link markings and just stands there.  It's cute, it's under 1-inch tall, and the deco is pretty good - it looks sort of like an otter, a seal, a pug, and a puffin.   I anticipate much in-store pilfering to get this accessory.  As of now I am unaware of it being available with other figures, but as I write this Hasbro has kept the contents of the figure assortments partially obfuscated.  The deco is good, it has no articulation, and it's cute.

Overall, it's pretty good.  A Porg is more interesting than a wacky blaster or a big helmet, but the cost/value may not be there.  The Force Link gimmick is cool, but not visually apparent.  This may mean new buyers are going to wait for sales - at $6 or even $7, this is a pretty great set.  More than that, you may be left uninterested in sealing the deal with another version of the best Wookiee first mate in the galaxy.  This is a fun figure, though, and a much greater value than C-3PO.   (Threepio has no accessories.)

Packaging Notes: The basic cardback is lighter and has less material than before, and is much easier to open than the last two films.   There is no bio on the packaging - a shame - and no co-sells.   There are photos of the figure on the box, though, which have been absent for a few years.   I know I say this a lot, but this may be the worst overall 3 3/4-inch packaging for a single basic figure yet - it's about 70% warning labels.and Force Link upsells with no other figures, vehicles, or toys being promoted.  The movie's title "The Last Jedi" is absent from the packaging.  The last time this happened was in 1999 with The Phantom Menace.

Assortment Notes: The basic 3 3/4-inch assortments are split in "Orange" and "Teal" assortments.  There is no orange and no teal on the packaging or cartons - it's sort of like a more obtuse version of "Collection 1" and "Collection 2" or "Jungle/Space" and "Desert/Snow," if you catch my meaning.   This allows stores to be more nimble in their ordering of assortments while giving more product shelf space to 3 3/4-inch action figures.

Collector's Notes: I got mine from Entertainment Earth.

--Adam Pawlus

Day 2,400: September 2, 2017